We’ll all be prompt engineers just tweaking code the bot spits out to meet requirements.
So marginally different than the Google query engineers we all are today?
marginally to not at all
Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
71–80 of 177 posts
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how can the future architect get there, if going through the junior stages is suddenly not an option anymore. Because those all-understanding software architects don't just pop into existence.
There are new accountants being minted all the time, spreadsheets didn't stop that. Artists didn't stop because the camera made it possible to do what otherwise took hours with a canvas and oils. The nature of programming may change, but it's still about using computers to solve problems. --- Putting on the old guy hat --- You kids didn't learn programming from magazine articles typing in your favorite little game in…
> Yet, ya'll turned out ok, despite all those changes.
I personally do very well for myself, being in the top 1% of earners in my generation. It deeply concerns me that I can barely afford to buy a house despite this fact. Most of my peers can't even dream of doing something like buying a house right now. And why is this happening? Because computers are being used to extract vast amounts of value from the system to be captured by a tiny fraction of people who are increasingly owning everything. AI will only accelerate this trend.
And perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones to have carved out a good career for myself, but everywhere I look, I see folks struggling more and more. And stuff like AI is about to make life a whole lot harder for them. Yuval Harari talked about the rise of the "useless class" [0], and the challenges with mass unemployment in the future when AI has replaced many jobs.
You can repeat the "it'll be OK" mantra as much as you want, that doesn't make it true.
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#73I wouldn't worry. It's code output is 50% garbage. I'm not in fear of my job. All the hypsters assuming this will destroy lawyers, accountants, doctors etc clearly don't understand correctness isn't something they can just tag on to a prediction machine.
Next version will be 40% garbage. Then 30%, then 20%... And we got to the point where it has as much garbage as human code.
How do you know that?
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#74I wouldn't worry. It's code output is 50% garbage. I'm not in fear of my job. All the hypsters assuming this will destroy lawyers, accountants, doctors etc clearly don't understand correctness isn't something they can just tag on to a prediction machine.
Next version will be 40% garbage. Then 30%, then 20%... And we got to the point where it has as much garbage as human code.
That's what you might expect, but it requires another breakthrough IMO. From what I understand of LLMs, they can't be incrementally improved to add logical reasoning since they're just guessing the next word. It's impressive and fine in many cases, but there are many where it's not enough.
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#75I used 3 for the first time to spit out some boilerplate for me and I was fairly impressed. Maybe the next one can solve complex problems I have to think seriously about, like architecture decisions.
But I never started coding to write code - I started coding to solve problems and make things, and I've been doing it for 40 years and 25 professionally. Code is the medium for me, not the message. I always thought that made me a bad coder, but maybe in this new era it puts me ahead of the game somehow. I dunno.
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#76Check back in few months when subtle bugs introduced by AI will start to surface. There'll be plenty of work and money for you then.
Pure hell has just been predicted. :s
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#77I wouldn't worry. It's code output is 50% garbage. I'm not in fear of my job. All the hypsters assuming this will destroy lawyers, accountants, doctors etc clearly don't understand correctness isn't something they can just tag on to a prediction machine.
This mindset just artificially downplays the fact that it will get incrementally better, multiple times, and strikingly quickly. It’s insanely shortsighted IMO. You don’t have to believe AI is the next coming of Jesus to recognize it’s reached a point (or soon will) to be genuinely disruptive. Corporate execs will absolutely and quickly pursue using AI to reduce costs and speed up development. At the expense of emplo…
See my other comment. I think logical rigour requires another breakthrough.
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#78Well I guess work on making these GPT programs then?
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
What careers are you thinking of?
Government jobs for instance (if you live in a country where that is an option). Medical profession would also be immune for some time but med school is too hard of a switch in terms of time.
What makes medical profession immune? I see this area as ripe for AI disruption. Analyzing symptoms and providing suggested medicine, tailoring dosage based on your individual vitals, analyzing data/imagery to diagnose you with diseases, all kinds of automation and speed ups for processing patient data, etc.
Re: Tell HN: I stopped caring about personal development in tech after seeing GPT-4
#80In light of the quote, "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them," I agree that LLMs will undoubtedly transform the landscape of work. By automating tedious tasks, they'll enable engineers to become vastly more productive (10-100x), allowing them to focus on strategic and creative aspects of their projects while developing larger, more complex systems.
While job losses are a concern, I think the more significant impact will be on the way companies operate. As firms exist to economize on the cost of coordinating economic activity, the streamlining and reduction of coordination needs brought about by LLMs will challenge the very foundations of many businesses. In this new landscape, individuals and small teams might outcompete larger organizations.
Freelancers and solo entrepreneurs could find themselves better positioned to compete in the market, driving the rise of smaller, agile businesses that can innovate rapidly and cater to niche markets. This shift will also change the skills needed for success in the field.
Overall, it's an exciting time to be part of this industry. Far from being a time to quit, it's an opportunity to adapt, grow, and harness the power of LLMs to reshape the world of work.